City of Sin (Yanyu Jiangnan)

The Depths Of The Abyss

“My King, let me show you my new abilities. I’ll tear through space to bring you back to the origin of chaos, on the banks of the underworld river where the eternal war was once fought. Once we arrive, you shall gain immortality!”

Mordred tore off his deformed mask to reveal a face filled with determination. He then raised both hands towards the sky, forming a pure black glow between them. The still world began to move once more, the corpses on the hill starting to shake as the black glow expanded swiftly. A strong suction force burst forth from within as it suddenly flew up into the sky, morphing into a sphere of absolute darkness that started pulling everything towards it.

At first it was only the small pieces of debris that littered the hill. However, that was soon followed by weapons, armour, and eventually even the corpses that were everywhere. The vortex started to rotate, growing in size as even the hill itself started to be consumed.

Mordred gazed silently at the expanding black hole, his gaze fixated on the lava flowing within its depths that only he could see. The suction grew stronger and pulled the heads at his feet upwards; these gods that should have been dead suddenly opened their eyes in fury, but as much as they howled unknown curses at Mordred they made no sound in this world without air. Soon, they disappeared into the black hole and the last remnants of their divine power faded away.

Mordred laughed coldly, not caring about their curses at all. The curse of a god at full power was dangerous, but these hollow beings had been robbed of all their power by a spell they would never be able to free themselves from.

The barrier that protected this small mountain suddenly broke as well, the debris turning into a tornado as even the pillars of fire were bent towards the black hole. The shattered fragments of the sky and the last remaining clouds were quickly sucked in, as was all of the formless origin energy of the world.

“My King, it is time. We should go.” The Devil King lifted Gaton with both arms and trudged forward, the earth shaking with every step. Soon, he was walking on nothing, as though an invisible staircase was leading him towards the core of the black hole.

The corpses of Kaylen and Kayde flew past him one after the other, but Mordred seemed to have no intentions of saving them from their fate. Gaton was the only being he cared for; the others were merely acquaintances he had once brushed shoulders with. It was already a privilege for them to be ended by his powers.

This world was once beautiful, once full of life. It once possessed a beautiful name befitting of it: the Rosie Plane. However, now the last two corpses had bid it goodbye.

......

The residents of Faust suddenly felt their hearts skip a beat. The commoners could not understand what happened, but all of the experts suddenly had a premonition and rushed towards their balconies to look into the skies.

“The Rainbow of the Moons!” someone called out in shock, “Where is the Rainbow of the Moons?!”

The voice travelled far and wide in the quiet city, causing large numbers of people to raise their heads and look towards the azure sky. The view that greeted them was a clear, azure sky, but this sight that would have been calming anywhere else was an alarming sight to behold. The Rainbow of the Moons had been plastered across Faust’s sky for all of eternity; this was the first time since the founding of the Sacred Alliance that pure sunlight had fallen onto the city of miracles.

“The islands! Quick, look at the islands!” another person cried. Everyone diverted their gazes, only to find all of Faust’s floating islands now stopped in their tracks. Cries of differing intensity echoed throughout the city, causing great chaos until they had to be magically silenced. People walked out of their homes and headed for the streets, looking to both the skies and the islands. Many of those people also began to look towards the Church hidden behind the trees.

Many of these people had forgotten that Faust was a magical city that had existed far before humanity. Only when the founders of the Alliance discovered it was it occupied by humans. There were still many mysteries of this city that hadn’t yet been unravelled, and now the rainbow had disappeared and the islands had stopped. For many, this was a revelation that they weren’t the true owners of this city.

Was something about to happen to the city of miracles? Time seemed to have come to a stop as people held their breaths subconsciously, waiting for an earth-shattering event to take place.

They were not disappointed. A blinding light suddenly flashed across the sky, a being appearing from within the glow. The figure took large strides, as though there was an invisible path beneath his legs that supported him as he trudged forward. The flaming figure seemed to be carrying something in his arms, every step he took leaving behind a blazing trail.

However, another ray of light quickly flashed and the figure disappeared. Countless held breaths were released at the same time/

“It’s Mordred!” Someone in the crowd cried out once more, but the voice quickly trailed off as though someone had covered the mouth. The Devil King was a fearsome existence within Faust, even to the experts of the plane.

Once Mordred disappeared, the sky seemed to ripple for a moment. Many felt a tide of energy surge across the sky as the Rainbow of the Moons appeared once more and the floating island resumed their motions.

Mordred came and left, the entire process extremely strange. Only when he had disappeared completely did people remember that he had vanished into the Rosie Plane alongside Gaton. Could it be that Gaton had returned?

......

Within her courtyard in the Church of the Eternal Dragon, Ferlyn pondered over the strange phenomenon with furrowed brows. She quickly walked back to the Hall of Dawn, gazing upon a large hourglass filled with golden sand.

Timeforce erupted from her right fingertip and merged into the glass, causing some of the sand to float back into the upper dome. A virtual image of Faust’s skies was projected in front of her, showing the blinding light that signified Mordred’s entrance. She barely saw there was a figure within the Devil King’s arms, and had to inject another portion of timeforce to clarify the image.

The visual was slowed down and the distortion from the powerful light reduced. Ferlyn barely managed to catch that the strong flash of light had come from a portal, but this screen of energy seemed different from any normal gate. This portal was constructed using formidable strength that worked off the basis of the laws of spacetime, a mode of transportation only legendary powerhouses with expertise in such laws could accomplish.

She continued to stare at the figure in the clip, not willing to let any small details slip her by. She now saw that whatever Mordred was carrying was human, and added even more timeforce to freeze the image the moment Mordred opened the gate. The image grew clearer and more magnified, now focused on the portal they had just come from. She barely made out the ruined world they had left behind.

The image started to move once more as Mordred walked forward, forming a second door in front of him. She gritted her teeth and continued to inject her precious timeforce into the hourglass, allowing her to peek into a world of lava and crimson skies. She magnified the image once more, now able to clearly see a world with lava spewing out and flowing all over the ground.

In the corner of the image was a dark red formation of crystal that she recognised. A single small piece of that crystal could fetch a sky-high price in Norland, and as far as she knew there was only one place in the myriad planes that produced it. Ferlyn’s expression warped somewhere between astonishment and horror as she hugged, “The depths of the abyss!”

Wrinkles suddenly appeared on Ferlyn’s face, a price she had to pay for replaying the images of the past. Her timeforce had been almost depleted, causing her to grow fatigued, but she had still seen clear as day that the man shrouded in flames and steel was Mordred. His face was filled with determination, blazing lava flowing in the eyes as a bloody mist seemed to be spewing out of the gaps in his armour. His overwhelming aura had grown even more strongly.

And most importantly, he was carrying Gaton in his arms.